Worldwide air cargo volumes stabilised in March after a weak result in February with a 3.5%increase in total freight, according to the latest figures from the airports association ACI.
International volumes at world airports increased from just 1.6% growth in February to a 2.6%rise in March while domestic volumes recovered to 5.3% growth, up from a decline of -3.3% inFebruary.
Domestic growth was the driver with strong increases in Asia Pacific (+6.7%) and North America(+5.5%). Freight worldwide grew by 3.1% in the first quarter of 2011.
At a regional level, Latin American airports recorded the strongest growth in March with a totalfreight increase of 6.3%, slightly down from 7.1% growth in February, and with a 12.3% increase ininternational freight, up from 8.5% one month earlier.
After Latin America, North America recorded the highest overall freight increase with 4.3%, upfrom 1.6% in February. International freight increased 1.9% in the region for March, down from5.1%.
Asia Pacific airports showed significant growth in total freight with 3.8%, up from a Februarydecline of -3.4%. This was slightly below the international freight demand with 2.8%, up, from-0.6% in February.
European airports recorded a slightly lower increase in total freight with 3.6% in Marchcompared to 4.7% in February. The international demand was slightly higher at 3.9%, down from 4.8%in February.
In the Middle East and Africa, political uncertainty was the cause of extensive declines intotal freight with -5% and -7% in March respectively. International freight declined by 8.3% inAfrica and 5% in the Middle East.
At the official opening of the new ACI World headquarters in Montréal this week, DirectorGeneral Angela Gittens commented on the long term outlook: “The good news is that for many markets,the traffic outlook is holding to expectations and steady growth is a reality. With traffic risingsignificantly over the next few years, we will be called upon to satisfy our airline customers’infrastructure needs while at the same time enhancing safety, security and efficiency. Airportdevelopment thus remains a critical exercise in our industry which is capital intensive andcharacterized by long lead times for approvals and execution.”
Gittens sees the move to Montreal as an exciting opportunity to forge strong collaborativepartnerships at ICAO that will better enable the association to serve its 1650 members worldwide.She called on aviation partners to enhance cooperation: “Airports are an economic pillar for thecommunities we serve. Community expectations are our guide in business development, and industrycooperation will be our platform to deliver on those expectations. We must see ourselves as a wholeand well-integrated aviation system serving the consumer, not as separate sectors actingsequentially.”
